


A Bounty Hunter and A Sheriff Walk Into A Bar...

by Exiti_Anima



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Also Unclear, Alternate Universe - Western, And Shane Thinks It’s Amusing, BAMF Ryan Bergara, BAMF Shane Madej, Believer Ryan Bergara, Bounty Hunter Shane Madej, Cowboy Ryan Bergara, Cowboy Shane Madej, Demon Eugene Lee Yang, Demon Shane Madej, Gen, He’s A Shit Talker, Human Ryan Bergara, Maybe - Freeform, Mysterious Shane Madej, Protective Shane Madej, Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej Friendship, Ryan Doesn’t Know Yet, Ryan Is Suspicious Of Shane, Ryan Takes No Shit, Sarcastic Ryan Bergara, Sarcastic Shane Madej, Sassy Ryan Bergara, Shane Being an Asshole, Sheriff Ryan Bergara, Skeptic Shane Madej, Strangers to Friends, The Mystery Of Shane Madej, Treasure Hunter Ryan Bergara, Western AU, but in a good way, maybe? - Freeform, not surprising
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:01:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24063994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Exiti_Anima/pseuds/Exiti_Anima
Summary: Ryan Bergara was a sheriff turned treasure hunter, and he’s on his biggest hit yet: The Book Of All, a book that can supposedly tell you anything you want to know. Unfortunately, criminals and other treasure hunters alike are after him.Which is where Shane Madej comes in.Shane Madej is a bounty hunter, and supposedly a good one at that, but he puts it aside to offer his services to Ryan, namely ensuring his protection.And with that, a deal is struck.But as he rides with Shane, he begins to realize that the man isn’t all he seems. So, Ryan sets out to figure out the mystery behind the man who gave his career up for Ryan.With that, Ryan and Shane set out on an adventure for treasure, but will find much more along the way.Or,The Western AU that nobody asked for but we all deserve.Inspired by a YT speed paint of the boys:https://youtu.be/Q0XhFRv0GQULink will also be offered in the notes.
Relationships: Ariel Fulmer/Ned Fulmer, Background Ariel Fulmed/Ned Fulmer, Ryan Bergara & Shane Madej
Comments: 14
Kudos: 82





	1. A New Friend(?)

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by: https://youtu.be/Q0XhFRv0GQU  
> YouTube Channel of Creator of Speedpaint: Pink Vulture

Ryan Steven Bergara was an up and coming treasure hunter, young and full of spirit but was quickly making a name for himself. He was already successful in three hunts that had stumped many older and experienced hunters, and a lot of them didn’t like that.

A lot more didn’t like the next treasure he had set his eyes on. 

The Book of All.

It was an old myth, but Ryan had always been a sucker for those. The others had been myths too, long forgotten after hundreds of previous treasure hunters attempted them and failed, and just like the last ones Ryan was sure he could crack this one.

It was only a matter of time.

Time, that he seemed to be running out of.

See, before he was a treasure hunter he was a sheriff. A very good sheriff, who was  _very_ good at putting criminals away. Of course, most criminals in the good ol’ West had connections that’d either get them out of jail or exact revenge against the sheriff that put their friend away.

Most of the time, Ryan fell into the latter. Especially after he caught those motherfuckers trying to bust their buddy out of jail.

If he was a young treasure hunter he was an even younger sheriff, so most of the times the cowboy gangs that hadn’t heardword of him thought that they could easily catch him asleep and put their plan to bust out their buddy into action.

And, oh, he’d play along, act like he was asleep and snore away, and the moment one of the fuckers reached for the keys he was up with double pistols in his hands and cuffs resting soundly at his hips, ready to put them in the cell with their buddy he captured in the first place.

So, yeah, to say that he wasn’t well liked around the western world was an understatement.

Which is what his predicament was now, facing a cart full of criminals and treasure hunters alike and having nowhere to escape to. Sure, he has a pistol at his hip, but he was outnumbered and severely out of sorts. He had stupidly thought he’d be safe, that he had covered his tracks, but apparently Ryan underestimate the hate these people had for him and the determination they had to exact their sense of _‘justice’._

“Now, easy there friend,” Ryan said, setting his pistol off to the side and raising his hands slowly. “surely there’s a way to settle this.”

“Not on your nelly,” One of them sneered, the leader of a cowboy group  _ (Waylon, his name was)  _ that had been terrorizing a town a mile back that Ryan had put a stop to when he was a new sheriff, and raised his gun even higher to aim at Ryan’s head. “it’s time someone put you in your place.”

“And that place is my grave?” Ryan shot back, he couldn’t help his fast mouth that often got him in trouble with multiple treasure hunters, and lo’ behold a treasure hunter was stepping up to speak.

“See, we met these nice fellas in a bar and got to talkin’. Soon after we found out we all had one thing in common, we were all fucked over by you. So we came to an arrangement and we paid the conductor a nice amount of money to secure this cart so we could handle business quietly.”

“A business deal I’m not aware of but somehow part of? Why, Johnson, you really outdid yourself.” Ryan said, because if he was going to die today he’d be damned if he wasn’t going out talking shit.

“Shut it!” Waylon roared as he hit him in the face with the butt of his gun, and Ryan was sure that’d bruise later.

If he was even _alive_ for later.

“The deal is that these nice cowboys get to rough you up before killing you, I rifle through that little book of yours, and we find the treasures you’ve been looking for and we split it.” Another well known fact about Ryan was that he doesn’t settle on one treasure to go after, oftentimes he’ll accumulate four treasures in one trip, and he jots all his thoughts and clues about them in a notebook he keeps on his body.

“Well, boys, you really did it this time. Taking me, Ryan Bergara, out, what a name you’ll create for yourself.”

“What a name indeed.” Johnson stepped back and whistled, letting the criminals step closer to Ryan as one of them raised their gun.

**_Bang!_ **

“Well, what do we have here? A stick up?” The body dropped dead and heads snapped towards the front of the cart to see a new man there. Ryan stared at the body that was meant to be him, before slowly raising his gaze to the man.

“Stay out of it.” Johnson snarled but, before he could draw his pistol, the man was smoothly putting his own pistol to Johnson’s head.

“Ah ah ah,” The man tsked, “I would think twice before trying that. You should know, I’m an excellent shot and a blind man could kill you at this range.”

“Drop the gun boy!” Waylon warned, and the man gave a low chuckle.

“No, I don’t think I will.” The man reached out with one long limb and grabbed Johnson’s sleeve to pull him in front of himself. “Now listen here fellas, why don’t we all take a nice deep breath and drop our guns? If not, well, I’m not sure if our good friend Johnson here will survive.”

“H-How? I didn’t tell you my- The man took his safety off, and Johnson immediately shut up. Johnson was an experienced treasure hunter, but as he grew older he grew more cowardly. Hired people to do his own dirty work, but didn’t like to be in the crossfire.

“C’mon,” The man urged slightly, “I know you guys like to think you’re all that, but surely you must know without Johnson over here your plan will fall to ruin. I mean, who would be there to decipher Bergara’s notes over there? You’re all illiterate, and I’m sure a former sheriff doesn’t take notes in pictures.”

And with that, Ryan watched as all five of the criminals put their guns down.

“Kick then towards me.” The man ordered, and the criminals looked at each other hesitantly. With Johnson, the brains of this situation obviously, held captive and Waylon unsure, the whole group didn’t know what to do or who to listen to. “Easy friends, you want your buddy back don’t you?”

They kicked the guns over to the man, and he laughed merrily.

“Thank you for your cooperation.” And in that moment, the temperature seemed to drop and Ryan would never forget what happened next.

**_Bang!_ **

Brains and blood splattered against the wall and against the man, and Johnson was dead.

There was immediate shouts of yelling as the criminals scrambled for anything that could be used as a weapon, but the man was taking them out one by one.

One of them found an extra knife lying around and charged at the man with a roar of desperation, managing to slice his arm and grew a wild grin in victory. Ryan, though, could see the man let him get that close only to stick a gun in the criminal’s mouth and pull the trigger.

Ryan liked to think he had seen the worst of humanity, a hardened and seasoned sheriff and treasure hunter, but he had  _ never _ seen a massacre like this.

Another criminal reached for Ryan’s gun, long and forgotten, in desperation, but he had a bullet snaked in his head before he could flick off the safety.

There was only one left, a fearful man shaking in the corner, and the man smoothly walked towards him.

“I-I don’t want to die!” The man practically shrieked, pants soaking in piss, and the man bent down  _ (holy hell was he tall)  _ and whispered something softly in his ear. Whatever he said had the last man standing nodding vigorously and, with a laugh that  _ really _ didn’t suit the blood soaked room, the man stood up and clapped the lone survivor on the back.

“Well, get going then!” The man said cheerfully, and the criminal was scrambling to his feet and running out of the cart, stumbling on some blood that had him crying.

And then Ryan was left with the man who had saved his life.

They didn’t speak at first, the man just hummed a little tune under his breath as he surveyed the room, the blood on the walls and  _roof,_ before he started towards the door. For a moment, Ryan hoped he’d just leave but then he was throwing open the door and grabbing the bodies he killed as he dragged them towards the door.

He was throwing them out into the desert, Ryan realized, where by the time somebody found their bodies it’d be far too late to find the culprit. Maybe nobody would find the bodies, and maybe they’d be decomposed on the lonely desert sand. Ryan didn’t have time to dwell on these thoughts that would surely be there when he couldn’t sleep, as the man was turning and talking as he closed the cabin door.

“Ryan Steven Bergara, what a pleasure to meet you!” The man said with a grin as Ryan slowly peeled himself off the wall, and stopped as he grimaced down at his blood soaked clothes and blood dripping down his open wound. “Although I wish we met on better circumstances, if you don’t mind I’d rather fix up my arm.”

“Sure, I have some bandages in my bag.”

Ryan responded numbly, robotically making his way towards his forgotten bag and opening it up.

“And I have the alcohol!” The man smiled brightly, as if he hadn’t just massacred an entire cart of people, and Ryan stood with the bandages as the man carelessly doused his arm with the alcohol, not flinching at the pain it surely brought, and set it down at the edge of the bench before crouching to examine the tan hat that laid next to the bottle. “Why, what a mighty fine hat, I’ll have to take it with me!”

Ryan didn’t mention that it belonged to Johnson, the treasure hunter he killed first, and instead nodded.

“It fits your outfit.” Ryan instead says, “Really goes with the white, blood splattered, shirt you have there.” This startled a laugh out of the man, who moved further into the cart near Ryan to grab the bandages.

“I think I’ll like you just fine, Bergara.” The man swiftly wraps his arm up, with experienced and practiced motions, and then sits down across from Ryan, who follows suit cautiously. “So, let’s talk.”

“Let’s start out with names first, big guy.” The nickname slips out of Ryan’s lips before he could stop it, but the man  ~~ _(murderer)_ ~~ doesn’t seem to mind.

“Name’s Madej, little guy.”

“Alright Madej, what do you want to talk about?” Ryan observes the tall, lanky, seemingly harmless man in front of him and can’t get a read on him. Criminals were easy, especially in the western world, because eventually they all were able to be fitted into tight, neat, boxes of personalities and motives.

This man, though, didn’t seem like a criminal and didn’t fit into one of Ryan’s neat little boxes, but he certainly wasn’t innocent either.

God knows that Ryan just witnessed the truth of those thoughts.

Still, there was something about Madej that Ryan couldn’t quite pin. The way he ruthlessly killed, the calculated way he disposed of bodies, there was something there that Ryan had seen or heard of before.

As if reading his thoughts, Shane chuckled and leaned back.

“I’m a bounty hunter, Bergara, you can just ask if you have questions.” Of course he got himself mixed up with bounty hunters, in Ryan’s mind they were arguably worse than criminals. Bounty hunters were known to be demons sent by the devil himself, humans that made deals with the devil for their own personal gain and became bounty hunters to collect souls for the devil.

Ryan’s never dealt with one himself but, thinking back to Madej’s killing of the criminals and Johnson, he’s inclined to believe the rumors.

“So, what? Those fellas over there were your bounty?”

“Oh, god no,” Madej threw his head back and laughed, “I would never play with them like that if they were. Never would’ve given them a chance to fight back.” If that was Madej giving someone a chance to fight back, Ryan would hate to see him go all out. He also studiously ignored the way Madej said he  _ played  _ with them, like a psychopath.

_Like a demon._

“No, see, there’s a bounty on  you , Bergara.”

“Oh great,” Ryan groaned before he could stop himself, “so either you’ve come here to kill me or to warn me, which means I have to deal with more demons coming and killing a whole cart of people if it’s the latter.”

“What a mouth on you, I quite like it.” Madej didn’t seem offended by his comment, where most would be salivating to kill Ryan by now, and continued. “No, actually, I had seen a bounty on your head in multiple places and towns and couldn’t help but grow curious by this infamous Ryan Bergara. I did some research and decided you were too interesting to die at some half-assed plan by idiots who were too jealous that you got more done than they did in their life time.”

“Alright, well you accomplished your mission, now what?” Ryan asked, an unamused eyebrow raised, and Madej only grinned back.

“I’m here to offer you a deal.”

“A deal?”

“You’re planning on making your biggest treasure hunt yet, and I want to be apart of the ride. In return to letting me tag along, I’m offering you protection.” 

“Protection?” Ryan snorted, “I’ve been around these parts for a long time, despite my age, I don’t know if I need protection from a  _ bounty hunter _ with a  _ bounty _ on my head.”

“You have been, but you’ve never been this hated and you haven’t had this many bounties on you.” Madej responds, and Ryan finds truth in his words. “As for the bounty hunter part, well, I was never a good one anyway.” 

Ryan knows that’s a lie, the confidence Madej had when he entered the room and the way he seamlessly handled a situation where he was outnumbered immediately gave him away, and when he expressed these thoughts Madej gave him a sultry smile. 

“What a sweet talker.” At Ryan’s unimpressed glare, Madej fixed his smile into a normal one. “Okay, I admit, I certainly have experience as a bounty hunter and I’m a mighty fine one, but I’m giving it up to go on this journey with you.”

“Why? You make good money from it and you obviously have no qualms with the moral grayness of the job.”

“It gets boring after awhile,  _ ‘Madej, kill the man my wife is having an affair with’  _ and  _‘Madej, kill my wife so I can get another’_ so I decided a nice change of pace would be good for me.” Madej mimicked the voices of those who hired him in exaggerated voices and, in another life, Ryan could see him as an entertainer or a comedian, a glimpse of a personality past the confident but mysterious bounty hunter persona he has going on. 

“So you decide protecting me is more fun?”

“An up and coming treasurer hunter, former sheriff, who’s accomplished more than most in their life time at just 25 years old? Who also has multiple enemies out to kill him and is going on a journey for multiple treasures that have stumped other hunters? Nah, sounds like horseshit.” Madej responds sarcastically, and Ryan scowls. 

“No need to be an ass,” After a moment of consideration, Ryan let’s his scowl drop into a neutral face. “and you don’t want anything out of this? No money, no treasure? You’re just there for the ride?”

“Sounds about right, my friend. You’re an interesting pal, Bergara, being there for the journey and getting to know you is payment enough.”

“Sounds like a good deal,” Ryan admits, because it does, but... “almost too good of a deal for it to be made from the devil. There has to be a catch.”

“Funny,” Madej responds easily as he props his bandaged hand on his dark brown pants, extending it towards Ryan as he leans forward. “but the devil’s got nothing on me, my friend.”

Ryan stares at the hand, glanced back up at Madej’s smirking but honest face, and against his body’s primal instincts that are telling him that he’s facing a predator when he’s the prey, he shakes Madej’s hand.

“It’s a deal.” Ryan says, and the air around them seems to crackle as they shook hands before separating.

Later, he would wonder if the red in Madej’s eyes was a trick of the light as the sun set behind him or something more.

“You won’t regret this Ryan.” Madej says, as if prophesying the words rather than saying them for comfort, and Ryan looks up sharply at his first name. “What? I can’t be calling you Bergara the whole time, it’s too long and too formal.”

“You’ve never said it formal,” Ryan scoffed, because most of the time Madej’s words always had a twist of playfulness in them, but let’s it go easily. “but if that’s the case I need a name from you too buddy.”

Madej seems to take this into consideration before giving him a broad grin.

“Shane, Shane Madej, at your service.” 

* * *

Shane Madej was a much more easygoing guy when he wasn’t killing and making deals with people.

“I’m telling you, my horse got knocked down by a ghost in the stables!”

“And ever since then you’ve believed in ghosts?” Shane gave an unconvinced look to Ryan’s nod and groaned. “Oh god, I’ve saddled myself with a believer.”

“Jokes on your buddy, I’ve definitely got it worse. I know this dude, a real ass, who’s really tall and a skeptic.”

“The horrors.” Shane deadpanned, and Ryan nodded in faux seriousness as he struggled to contain his grin.

“I know, he would’ve been a real swell fella otherwise.”

“Aw, and here I thought I was the only one that got your praises.” Shane clucked his tongue slightly to slow his horse into a trot as they near a town. “Let’s stop here, grab some grub and stop at an inn for a night.”

“Who’s the treasurer hunter here? Y’know, the one with the plan and notes?” Ryan snorted, but slowed his horse to a trot too. “You said you were here for the journey, not to completely take control of this you jerk.”

“Annnd we’re back to insults.” Shane laughed as he jumped off his horse and tied it up, a real beaut too.

It’s a shame he named it  _Pam._

“Let’s check in to the inn first, secure a room.” Ryan said as he got off his horse, named something  _much_ better, and Shane nodded as he looked down at Ryan.

“Sure little guy,” Shane responded easily, “although with a ghost town like this I’m not sure if matters.”

“This town isn’t a ghost town.”

“Every town is a ghost town in these parts.” Shane shot back as they entered the inn, and he leaned on the counter as he smiled at the old lady manning the front. “Hi there doll, a room for two?”

“Sure, Madej, got a new pal?” She made small talk as she grabbed the key, and Shane grinned.

“Yes ma’am, name’s Ryan, Ryan, Mrs. Hardy.”

“Hi Ryan,” Mrs. Hardy smiled at him as she reached past Shane to hand him the keys, “don’t let ol’ Madej scare you away, okay?”

“I don’t know, Mrs. Hardy, I think I might be scared away from Ryan here.” Shane let Mrs. Hardy reach past him easily as Ryan took a step forward to grab the keys. “He’s a tough one, used to be a sheriff.”

“A sheriff?” Mrs. Hardy raised an eyebrow at Ryan, who nodded.

“Yes ma’am, I handle a situation here a couple years ago. Your husband, I think?”

“That old drunk,” Mrs. Hardy agrees, “thank you for that son. Now, Madej go out both of your bags down in the room.”

“I’m not a servant Louise,” Shane says as he grabs Ryan’s bag off the ground and then his own. “Ryan stay here and we’ll head to the bar after.”

They watched as Shane walked up the steps, and Mrs. Hardy turned back to him with a soft smile once Shane disappeared from their view.

“Now listen here honey,” Ryan turned to her with rapt attention at her voice, “Madej is a lot to work with, but he’s already fond of you and I can see it in his eyes. Don’t let what you hear of him scare you off, okay?”

“I can’t promise you that, but I’ll try.” Ryan said honestly, because he couldn’t. This wasn’t one of those fairytales where someone does something wrong and the person stays with them regardless, the only reason why Ryan didn’t leave Shane in the first place was because he had saved his life and they had made a deal.

That’s not to say to say he didn’t like Shane around, he was a charismatic and funny dude, but if he had been an outsider to the whole situation he definitely would’ve been avoiding the tall man, to say the least.

“Smart man Bergara,” Mrs. Hardy smiled, “I hope I see you around someday.”

“Ryan! Let’s go, we’re only staying for a night so we gotta enjoy it!” Shane came walking down the steps and Ryan took a step back from the counter as Mrs. Hardy gave him a knowing smile.

“Sure big guy, I’ll see you later Mrs. Hardy.”

“You better.” And with that, Shane and Ryan were walking out the door and towards the bar.

They had drinks and at the end of the night Ryan was buzzed and Shane didn’t seem affected.

“You’re such an ass, not getting drunk with me.” Ryan slurred slightly, and Shane gave a soft chuckle. “Laughing at me like that, you’re lucky I made a deal with you.”

“Yes, I am lucky.” Shane responded, and he leaned Ryan against the wall to reach for the keys in the front of his pants. “Everybody’s been wanting to make a deal with you Ryan, but I’m glad I got to you first.”

“What do ya mean by that?” But then Shane was laying him on his bed and he was out like a light.

When he woke up the next morning, Ryan let out a quiet groan as he held his head.

“Fuck.” Ryan hissed softly, he hadn’t drank in a long time and the first hangover after a while was always the worst. Rolling on his side, he peered across the room to see Shane’s sprawl of a body on the bed as he slept soundly.

Sitting up, Ryan sat on the side of the bed for a moment as he stared at Shane before he decided to finally get up and start moving. He brushed his teeth silently, spitting out the remainder of last night’s beer, and dressed in new clothes before making his way downstairs, his boots clicking on the floor softly.

He waved at Mrs. Hardy as he passed through the front door and then he was making his way down the dusty ground of the town to the sheriff’s office.

It was time he pulled a few favors and see what his old friends knew about Shane.

“Is that Ryan?” Zach crowed, a grin on his face from his desk, and Ryan tipped his hat towards him.

“Zach, good to see you. Where’s the rest of you?” The Try Guys, everybody nicknamed them, were a group of four males that came together with different backgrounds and personalities. They were called the Try Guys because, combined, it seemed like the four of them had tried every possible career for someone in the west. A cowboy, sheriff, criminal, bounty hunter, you name it and one of them have done it.

“Ned and Keith are further down, guarding one of the cells into a sheriff of a town a little down south can pick the guy up, and Eugene is-ah! Speak of the devil!” Zach cheered as Eugene walked into the building holding up a roughed up criminal, jerking him towards the cells.

“Just a minute, Ryan.” Eugene called as he locked up the criminal before turning and making his way towards the two. “So, what brings you around these parts?”

“It was along the way,” Ryan said vaguely, and the two Try Guys nodded in understanding, “I actually need to talk to you about someone, see if you know him.”

“Alright, what’s the name?” Eugene leaned back, an impassive look on his face, and knew he was talking about a bounty hunter. Eugene was the only bounty hunter of the group, and it was the first time Ryan came and asked him to dredge up his past.

Which just made it all the more important.

“Madej, Shane.” Something past in Eugene’s eyes, too quick for Ryan to catch, and he gave a smirk.

“Must like you a lot to give up the name Shane like that, it’s very close.” Before Ryan could question the oddity of that sentence, Eugene continued. “Madej is a good guy, even better at his job, and if he’s tagging along with you I wouldn’t worry about anybody on your tail.”

“Yeah, I know that to be true.”

“I’ve come across him a couple of times, if you’re on his good side then you don’t have to worry about a thing. Friendly fellow too, always up for a nice chat.”

“Right, and the whole bounty hunting business...?”

“If he’s promised you it won’t get in the way then know it to be true, bounty hunters aren’t keen on breaking promises.” Eugene assured, and Ryan took his words to heart. Eugene wasn’t one to lie, a blunt straight-forward person that you could always rely on to call you on your bullshit, if he said Madej wasn’t going to cause trouble for him then Ryan was inclined to believe him.

“And what about Ned?”

“What about me?” Ned asked as he walked closer, Keith still back with the cells, and Eugene nodded a greeting.

“Madej.” Eugene relayed, and Ned relaxed.

“Oh, him? Helped Ariel and I awhile back, someone was trying to kill Wes and Madej put a stop to it. Why?”

“Someone tried to kill Wes?” Ryan said incredulously because screw any information he had on Shane, that could wait a minute.

“Some boys I met awhile back, didn’t like that I settled down.” Ned used to be a wandering sheriff like Ryan, holding prestige and authority to help other towns aside from his own, and was even more just than Ryan. He stood firm in his morals, even when they were challenged, but he fell in love with a cowgirl he had met in one of those towns and the rest was history. Ned was smart and knowledgeable and Eugene was experienced and wise, those two combined knew nearly everything about the West and the people inhabiting it.

“I would’ve taken care of it myself if I wasn’t out of town.” Eugene said, and Ryan didn’t doubt it. Once you were in Eugene’s inner circle, he was fiercely protective of you and since Ned was in his circle so was Ariel and Wes.

“All I’m hearing is good things about him.” Ryan sighed, and Eugene raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow.

“Isn’t that a good thing? He’s traveling with you, from what I’ve gathered, don’t you want someone with a clean record?”

“Nobody around here has that clean of a record.” Ryan shot back, and while it’s true that wasn’t his only reason. “Nobody’s that innocent either, hearing this guy hasn’t done a lick of bad in his life just makes me suspicious.”

“They’re only two people Ryan, not the whole West.” Zach says reasonably, but Ryan knew that if Shane has done anything to be warranted dangerous, Eugene or Ned would’ve heard about it.

Which means that either Shane hasn’t done anything, or he’s better at covering his tracks than most.

And if he hasn’t done anything, then that just makes Ryan feel guilty for being uneasy and suspicious of the man.

“Maybe,” Ryan shrugged it off and stood up, dipping his hat once more. “I’ll see you fellas later.”

Ryan was a wandering sheriff, he has a couple more contacts to visit before he can truly give up on the case of Shane Madej.

“Ryan!” His name was called as he walked into the inn, and he saw Shane grinning in front of him in new clothes and their bags hiked on his shoulders. “I was wondering where you scampered off to, Mrs. Hardy made us a hearty breakfast for the road. I was about to eat without you and eat your portion of it.”

“Like I’d let you.” Mrs. Hardy hit Shane in the back of the head with her spoon and he merely laughed.

‘ _Yeah,’_ Ryan thought as he sat down next to Shane and gave a playful jab. _ ‘nobody’s that innocent and cheerful down here.’ _

“Well, are you going to eat or not? Because Louise here is a mighty fine cook and if you don’t eat it I will.” Shane nudged Ryan slightly and he stabbed his fork into the eggs, glaring at Shane. This too, only elicited a laugh out of the bounty hunter.

_ ‘The devil’s got nothing on me, my friend.’ _

Ryan was reminded of the superstition around bounty hunters, that they’re secretly demons, and snuck a glance at Shane, who was playfully flirting with Mrs. Hardy.

It was that phrase that Shane had uttered, along with the superstition of bounty hunters and Mrs. Hardy’s warning not to let anything he hears about Shane scare him off, that kept Ryan from fully believing this clean reputation Shane carried around with him. While Ryan didn’t believe in all superstitions, he did believe in ghosts and demons.

He believed that maybe the red glow he saw in Shane’s eyes wasn’t the light behind him in that cart, that fateful day that he had made a deal with Shane.

Still, superstitious or not, it was apparent that there was something off about Shane Madej. Something behind the crinkle of his eyes when he smiled and behind the surface level calmness he always seemed to have, something slightly off-putting.

And since Ryan was here in the long run, he really had no choice but to find out what it was.

_If the devil’s got nothing on you, let’s see what the you have on the devil, big guy._

And, as if hearing his thoughts, Shane turned towards him, threw his head back, and _laughed._


	2. The Power of Names

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I'm back from the dead with a new chapter! I hope you enjoy it!

“Shane.” Ryan called in the silence, the two of them staring up at the starry sky as they laid on the ground to rest for the night. 

“Hm?” Came a lazy hum, and Shane turned on his side to see Ryan. 

“Do you believe in aliens?” That caused a sleepy chuckle to rise out of Shane, who then turned back around to stare at the sky. 

“I believe in them, yes, but I don’t believe they walk among us.” Shane responded, and Ryan furrowed his brows as he stared at the universe. 

“How do you believe in nothing?”

“How do you believe in everything?” Shane shot back, mirth in his voice as he did.

“Well, it’s gotten me this far.” It was true, where others had scoffed or given up on myths that promised fortune, Ryan had relentlessly searched until he found them. 

"I suppose so,” Shane admitted, closing his eyes to the universe while Ryan kept his eyes wide open. “you’re quite an enigma yourself Ryan.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Shane echoes, but doesn’t elaborate, instead moving on. “So what did Lee Yang and Fulmer tell you about me?”

“What?” Ryan thought Shane hadn’t been aware of his interactions with Eugene and Ned, but he had been wrong.

“What’d they tell you about me?” Shane repeats his question, despite knowing where Ryan’s true question was, and Ryan shook his head.

“How’d you know?” Shane turned to look at him and opened his eyes lazily, half opened, and Ryan could swear he could see a spark of red in them.

“Say my name and I’ll always know.” Shane said cryptically and despite that being an impossibility, Ryan believed him.

That only fed into his paranoia, and the theory that Shane was a demon. 

“Eugene said that you must like me if you gave up your first name to me.”

“It’s true, I like you, are you going to shoot me for it?” Shane grinned at him, eyes twinkling with with mischief, and Ryan pressed on.

“Most people don’t describe telling someone their first name as _giving it up.”_

“Names hold power, Ryan.” Shane pushed himself up on one elbow to face Ryan, and the believer did the same—sensing the seriousness of the conversation even if he didn’t understand it. “I told you my first name because I wanted to establish trust.”

“How is that meant to establish trust if I don’t know why it’s important?” Ryan huffed, and Shane hummed. 

“You guys always understand part of it-“

“You guys?”

“Take for instance your name, Ryan,” Shane said, ignoring Ryan’s incredulous cut in, “you have a bounty on the name Ryan Bergara, but if you were to pick up a different name? A clean record, as long as nobody recognizes you that is, and the name you have now also holds the prestige of a sheriff and treasure hunter. Names hold power because they hold history, it’s as simple as that.”

“And you? Do you have different names?”

“Madej is my consistent name, and Shane is my name to _you.”_ Shane smiles, as if what he just said wasn’t completely ludicrous. “It’s better than what most get, it holds power that Madej doesn’t.”

“This is fucking weird man.” Ryan shoots back, because he’s never been afraid to voice his thoughts, and Shane smiles his smile again. Like he’s _amused_ by Ryan, like he’s asking the right questions or responding in a way that pleases Shane.

It was fucking annoying to be out of the loop, and so off putting compared to Shane’s normal behavior that Ryan’s mind scrambled to form cohesive thoughts—to ask questions that’ll get him actual answers.

“All you need to remember is that if you use the name, I’ll know. Everything else is optional.”

He didn’t know what to ask, because he _could_ ask—he _does_ have option to—Shane had made that clear since the moment they met. The strange phrasing of his sentences, the way that they make sense out of context but not in context, and the way it seemed like Shane had everything in control, like he could never be caught off guard, filled Ryan’s mind with theories and absurd notions that _couldn’t_ be true. 

So, instead of all the complex questions, he asked a simpler one.

“Why did you name your poor horse Pam of all things?” Shane blinked, surprised for the first time Ryan had met him, and then laughed.

Ryan was absurdly pleased with himself. 

“You’re certainly a wonder, Ryan.” And then he launched into a story he dubbed the “Hot Daga” and Ryan regretted everything. 

And then, despite himself, he made Pam come back to life for this little story, and watched as Shane’s eyes lit up at his contribution. 

And under the eyes of the universe, he fell asleep with a small, exasperated, smile on his face as Shane told the tale of the Hot Doga. 

* * *

Ryan Bergara was a mystery.

And sure, some would say it was really Shane that was the mystery, but that was old news.

But maybe he’s bias, because who thinks of themselves as mysterious? You’d have to be pretty egotistical to actually believe you’re that important. 

Back to the point, Ryan is an interesting person—and for the Wild West? That’s saying a lot. Most humans are boring, in Shane’s opinion, and go down predictable paths of life. Not Ryan though, no, instead he broke out of the box and decided to be the youngest sheriff in his town and then decided to be a treasure hunter who went after myths. Put the belief of supernatural on top of that and you got yourself the mystery of Ryan Steven Bergara.

Shane was a natural skeptic, he needed evidence before believing in things, and it delighted him to find a pure believer—faith unwavering even in the face of his unrelenting skepticism.

It’s why Shane was so pleased to be able to make a deal with Ryan in the first place, because he was the first and the last to do so. It was a classic bounty hunter rule, once a bounty hunter made a deal with someone no other bounty hunter could offer a deal to the person without challenging the initial bounty hunter.

Not a lot of people wanted to challenge Shane, so he was confident that Ryan would remain his until the end of their deal. 

Of course, he offered his services to Ryan when he made the deal with him but he knew that Ryan didn’t really need him to defend himself.

The situation they’re in now shows it.

“Hey, jackass! Pay attention!” Ryan shoves him roughly as he ducks behind the wagon they’re hiding against, popping his head above briefly to take a few shots at their attackers, and Shane laughs.

“Sorry little guy, I got distracted.”

“Distracted by what?! We’re getting shot at!” Ryan winces as a bullet hits the wagon and wood particles kick up, firing a few more shots. Shane hears the distinct sound of bodies hitting the floor over the gunshots, and counts two bodies dead. 

Which just leaves two more bodies alive.

“Sorry, sorry.” Shane wheezes, drawing his gun as Ryan ducks back down. After Ryan shoots him a short glare, they both nod at each other once and pop back up at the same time and fire their shots.

Two bodies hit the ground, and Shane smiles.

“We did it!” Shane raises his hand for a high five, and Ryan gives him an unimpressed look. “C’mon, if we don’t celebrate small victories we’re going to get morbid very quickly. Don’t leave me hanging!”

“Asshole.” Ryan mutters, but reluctantly complies, and Shane grins from ear to ear. They make their way to where the bodies are, and Shane spies one still alive.

“We should kill her quickly.” Ryan says, monotone, and Shane pushes his gun down when he raises it.

“Not yet, we should figure out if they worked alone. It’d be good to know if more are coming.” Shane lightly hooks his foot underneath the body and pushes it so the women is facing up towards the sky. She gasps in pain when he moves her, but is otherwise silent.

“Did you come after us alone?” Ryan gets straight to the point, and the women is stubbornly silent. “Or did someone send you?”

Silence.

Shane clicks his tongue and, without hesitation, lifts his foot and presses it into her shoulder, putting light pressure. The women immediately cries in pain, her other hand shooting out to grab his ankle.

“My buddy here asked you a question, I think it’s best you answer.” Shane said in a light hearted tone, but the pressure on her shoulder let the women know he was serious.

“Shane, what the hell!” Ryan shouted, grabbing him by the shoulder and trying to throw him off, but he didn’t move. 

“S-Sent by someone. R-Ricky...”She gasped, and Shane waited to see what else she would say. 

A beat passes, and her eyes go unfocused.

“She’s dead.” Shane announced, taking his boot off of her shoulder, and shrugged. “At least we’re know someone is after us, we’ll be better prepared.”

“What the hell was that?” Ryan asked in a deadly tone, and Shane casually puts his hand in his pockets as he remembers that Ryan is one of the good sheriffs. He played by the rules and he played fair, which means he didn’t condone torture—although Shane would hardly call what he did torture but people are dramatic like that and Ryan, however much of an enigma he was, is one of the dramatic ones.

“I was getting information, she wasn’t giving it up by us sitting there.” Ryan rounded him and forced him to stop in his tracks. The move caused Shane’s lips to twitch upward, because Ryan knew his profession, had seen him kill before and believed in the superstition that bounty hunters were demons, yet still had the balls to stop him in his tracks.

Yes, Shane was pleased that he was the one to go on the little adventure with Ryan.

“We could’ve given her mercy before she died.” Ryan hissed, and Shane sighed as he rocked back on his heels. 

“She died in the end, isn’t that mercy enough? We got valuable information off of her, which we wouldn’t of had gotten by just staring at her.” Shane tried to reason, and saw it in the way that Ryan’s nostrils flared that his attempt to reason with him didn’t work.

“It wasn’t worth it. _You_ tagged along with _me,_ which means _I_ make the rules. From now on, we do things my way, which means we don’t torture people like that. If we need information, we’ll find another way to obtain it. Got it?” This time Shane allowed himself to fully smile, surprised but amused at the audacity Ryan had. 

“Got it.” Shane agreed, because he wasn’t going to give _this_ up just because he wasn’t allowed to use his means of obtaining information. It was a small sacrifice in the overall scheme of things, one Shane was fully prepared to make.

“Good,” Ryan huffed, whistling sharply for his horse. “now let’s go.”

Shane did the same and soon they were riding in silent. He knew that Ryan was still angry at him for what he did, but he also knew that the believer would get over it. 

Ryan Bergara didn’t truly need his help and he ran the show for this journey they were taking together. 

“Do you know someone named Ricky?” Ryan asked after a while, never one not to get information, and Shane scoffed out a laughed.

“Ryan, Ricky is a common name. I’m going to need more than a first name to figure out who they are. Despite what you may think, I don’t know everything.”

“Wouldn’t think it if you didn’t act like it.” Ryan shoots back, a twitch of a smile forming before it seemed like he remembered he was suppose to still be mad at Shane and let it drop to a frown. Shane internally rolled his eyes because there was no use being mad at him, what he did was in the past and now they agreed he wasn’t allowed to do it anymore with Ryan around. This resolution meant that there was now no reason to be mad, but Shane would let Ryan take time to expel his emotions—it wouldn’t do them any good to keep bad blood between them. 

“I do know a lot of things,” Shane appeased, figuring that Ryan wasn’t in the mood for cryptic talk. “but knowing a specific person by name only isn’t something even I’m capable of.”

“What Ricky’s do you know then?”

“Ricky Wright, Ricky Asmo, Ricky Goldsworth-“ Shane ticked them off with his fingers, but Shane knew Asmodeous wasn’t involved in this—he was probably too busy making deals with humans using his charms and looks. Shane decided to mention him anyway, in case Ryan somehow figures out they know each other, and he thinks it’s unfortunate Asmodeous chose Ricky has his first name this time because now he’s a suspect to Ryan—although a minor one. 

Still, if they ever were to meet Asmo, Ryan doesn’t have his true name since Shane shortened it, so it wouldn’t be a problem. Names closer to true names don’t have the same power, but they do alert the person the name is being used. As long as Ryan doesn’t use the name excessively they shouldn’t expect a visit from Asmodeous. 

“Goldsworth, that sounds familiar.” Ryan interrupts him, brow furrowed in concentration. “But I don’t remember from where.”

“Well, if he’s familiar we should check him out.”

“Asmo also sounds familiar, I think Mari met him before.”

_Well, shit._

“Marielle, the sheriff?” Shane asked, and Ryan looked his way.

“I thought you didn’t know people by their first names only.” Ryan sassed, and Shane laughed a little. 

“No, but I _do_ know Asmo, and Marielle was one of the only humans to turn him down in a deal—it was quite the spectacle to hear about.” Shane hummed as he thought about it, having to sit with Asmodeous as he drank whiskey while mourning a perfectly good deal he would’ve struck up with Marielle.

Shane supposed that he should be grateful that Asmodeous didn’t, because then Ryan would know a lot more. 

“In any case, we have two suspects to look into, although we should be careful from now on that we don’t have any followers when we leave town.” Ryan continues, oblivious to Shane’s internal monologue, and Shane weighed his options before bringing his horse closer to Ryan’s. 

“Can I borrow your map for a second?”

“Why?” Ryan eyed his suspiciously but handed his map over, where towns were marked and their final destination circled. Shane usually didn’t bother carrying maps, trusting the wind to take him where he needs to go, but it was handy Ryan did have one.

“I know where Asmo is staying currently. He may be gone by then, but it is on the way.” Shane tapped a town circled a mile out and handed the map back to Ryan, who raised an eyebrow at him. 

“How do you know?”

“He’s staying at the town Marielle runs currently, he’s always been interested in humans that turn him away.” Shane tilts his head and adds as an afterthought, “Probably because it bruises his ego to know they there are still humans out there that can turn him down, he’s such a narcissist.”

When Ryan gives him another look, Shane sighs. “It’s up to you but I figured you’d want to cross a suspect off your list, or at least meet one of the suspects. If you don’t want to, I have no problems with that, but if you do, then that’s where he’s staying.” 

Ryan looked down at the paper and then back up at Shane before giving a long suffering sigh, which he could tell the treasure hunter didn’t mean.

“It _is_ along the way.” Ryan amended, and that settled it. Ryan looked down at the map one more time, nodding to himself, and the rolled it back up and tucked it away. 

“So, I never finished my Hot Daga story.”

“Oh god, no.”

* * *

When they arrived into town, Ryan couldn’t help but let a sigh of relief escape him. He knew Marielle’s town was safe for him, it always was.

“Wow, I think that’s the most relaxed I’ve ever seen you enter a town.” Shane remarked, grinning like an idiot even though he’s only visited one other town with Ryan, and waggled his eyebrows. “You know Marielle?”

“Yes, and stop doing that.” Ryan dismounted from his horse and punched Shane in the shoulder as soon as he dismounted, mumbling under his breath an insult.

“Aw c’mon buddy, it’s okay to be in _looooveee.”_ Shane waggled his eyes even more as they made their way to the bad. and Ryan glared. 

“Is it also okay to _murder_ you?” Ryan shot back, and immediately winced after that as heads turned to stare at him. 

“If you can reach my head, then sure buddy, you can kill me.”

“I don’t need to reach your head, I can get your kneecaps just fine.” Ryan knew it was a joke about his shortness, but Shane’s gangly kneecaps were pretty vulnerable. “I bet you can’t even see your kneecaps, with what how tall you have.”

“And your short enough to touch the ground with your hands without bending down.” Shane responded naturally, holding the door open for him as Ryan passed through who gave him the middle finger. 

“Okay so where is-“

“Is that Madej?” A body collided with Shane’s and Ryan’s hand naturally strayed to his gun, but when Shane waves him away he stopped. 

“In the flesh,” Shane responds before addressing Ryan, “this is Asmo. Asmo, this is Ryan.”

“So when you said you knew each other, you weren’t talking about just acquaintances.” Before Shane could answer, Asmo was pulling himself away from Shane and looking curiously to Ryan. 

“Oh what great physique you have!” Asmo stepped closer to fluttered his hands over Ryan’s biceps, to which the sheriff stepped back to avoid his grasp. “You’re so handsome, not as much as me of course, but still!”

Asmo gave Shane a disappointed look that apparently didn’t need any explanation because Shane merely shrugged in response.

Then Asmo looked back at him and Ryan was, strangely, struck with the thought that he was handsome. He had brown hair with blond highlights, and his eyes were memorizing for the fact that it seems to have both blue, green and brown in them, brown ringing around his pupil and then spreading outwards to the other colors. His smile was pearly white and straight, something that was rare for the Wild West, and he was very affectionate.

So yeah, objectively he was handsome, but Ryan didn’t usually have these thoughts.

Ryan shook his head, trying to shake the fogginess from his mind, but the thought remained and with it the fogginess. Shane frowned and walked over to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder. Immediately, the fog lifted and Ryan could think clearly again—which left him with two questions

What just happened, and why did it stop when Shane touched him?

“Shane.” Asmo whined, and Shane was still frowning over at him.

“He’s in a contract with me.” Shane stated simply, with a serious undercurrent behind his words, and Asmo made a noise of understanding.

“You should’ve said so!” Shane looked critically at Asmo one more times before dropping his hand from Ryan’s shoulder. Ryan braced his himself for the fogginess to return, but it never did. “Anyway, I’m sure we didn’t end up in the same town by chance.”

“No, we’re here to because you’re a suspect of Ryan’s.”

“Shane!” Ryan hissed, and the person in question looked over at him with a silent question in his eyes. “Why the hell would you tell him?”

“So we can skip the roundabout questions and just get his alibi?” Shane said, like it was apparent, and Asmo shrugged in agreement.

“It’s true, I have nothing to hide.” Asmo smirked, pointing at some ladies who were sipping beer. “You can ask those darlings what, or who, I’ve been doing for the past few days. 

“Dude.” Ryan deadpanned, and Asmo snickered. 

“What can I say? I’m just the lustful type.” Ryan shook his head and walked towards the ladies that Asmo pointed to, grimacing internally when they turn and set their eyes on him.

“Hello there,” One of the ladies purred, putting a suggestive hand on his bicep, “has Asmo finally decided to bring another male into the fun.”

“How long have you been with Amso?” Ryan asked, ignoring both the hand and the look she was giving him, and all of the ladies giggled.

“It’s hard to tell time when your having fun darling, but the bartender tells me it’s been more than a couple days—maybe a week. But I know a couple more girls that were with him the week before.” The lady sighs dreamily and continues. “You can ask any lady around here, he’s been here for a month or so.”

Ryan awkwardly thanked her, and mentally crossed Asmo off of his list of suspects. It didn’t mean he completely trusted him, but for now it got him off of Ryan’s radar. Walking back, he catches the tail end of Shane and Asmo’s conversation. 

“-did he want from me?”

“He didn’t want me to say it straight away because humans are liars, so if I told you that you were a suspect of his then he thought you’d try to lie your way out of it or make a fake timeline.”

“Well that’s dumb!” Asmo scoffed, crossing his arms, and looked offended at the thought of himself lying. “I don’t lie!”

“You lied about the size of your di-“ Shane began to speak, Asmo’s mouth already open to defend himself, and Ryan hurriedly cut in before he had to hear _that_ part of the conversation. 

“You’re clear,” Ryan pointed to the girls at the bar, “they cleared you.”

“I told you!” Asmo slung his arm over his shoulder and gently steered him towards the back of the bar. “Now, I have some questions about your _amazing_ physique.”

Ryan looked over his shoulder and threw a desperate look to Shane, who merely grinned widely and gave him a thumbs up. 

Asshole.

He watched Shane disappear through the door, that lucky prick, and Asmo sat him down in a chair before smoothly sliding into another one across from him. 

“Now, let’s talk about something interesting.” Asmo’s voice dropped to a sultry tone and Ryan felt his mind fill up with fog. He blinked slowly as his mind scrambled for a solution. Shane wasn’t here, he couldn’t help him- “I’m pretty handsome, and so are you, so why don’t we make an underground deal, hm? It’ll benefit both us, I promise.”

Ryan stared into his eyes, unable to look away, and he was starting to lose his ability to think. Deal? Was he a bounty hunter? Shane already said that he made a deal with him, why would Asmo try to challenge Shane?

“Shh,” Asmo leaned over and pressed his finger to Ryan, who couldn’t make himself move away. “stop overthinking Ryan, just let go.”

That sounded nice, not having to worry, not having to look over his shoulder every minute, maybe Asmo did have a good dea-

_‘He kept trying to make a deal with me!’ She laughed, eyes bright as she retold her story, and Ryan couldn’t do anything but helplessly stare at her in adoration. ‘He tried to make me look in his eyes and fill my head up with cotton candy-“_

_“Like a hypnotist!” Ryan interjected, and she laughed._

_“Exactly! I do have to admit though, he did have some pretty eyes,” She winked over at him from above her drink, “but don’t be jealous.”_

_“Jealous?” Ryan scoffed and leaned closer to her with a smile, watching as she put her drink down. “If anything, he should be jealous of me.”_

_“And why’s that?”_

_“Because I have the prettiest eyes right in front of me.” She giggled, and Ryan closed the gap between them._

“Is this what you tried to do to Mari?” Ryan asked as he snapped his eyes open, fogginess disappearing, and Asmo looked surprised. 

“The sheriff? You know her?”

“I know what you tried to do, and it won’t work on me either.” Ryan said confidently, because as long as he could keep Mari in his mind there was no way that Asmo could make him fall for his looks again, and Asmo made a disgruntled noise. 

“How do both of you do that? I have to know.” Asmo leaned forward on the table, genuinely perturbed from what Ryan could tell, and the former sheriff smirked. 

“Because there’s no way your eyes match up to hers.” Asmo hissed at that, but Ryan pressed forward. “There’s no way you could match up to her.”

“Love, of course.” Asmo leaned back in his seat, pouting. “No wonder why I couldn’t sway her, she was probably thinking about your biceps.”

“Or my great personality in which I don’t hypnotize people to have sex with me.”

“I don’t hypnotize them to have sex with me!” Asmo growled, cracks appearing in his bubbly attitude. “They do it willingly, only scum of the lowest circle try and do that. I only use it to make deals, anyway, or for fun.”

Ryan opened his mouth to question what Asmo meant by _circle,_ but the bounty hunter(?) was already moving on. 

“And it’s not hypnotism either! Not like I’m going to explain it to you, if you have love on your side then I can’t touch you so there’s no point in explaining.”

Ryan shook his head at Asmo’s dizzying explanation, which sounded like the logic of a seven year old, and frowned over at Amso. 

“Look, frankly, I don’t care if you fucked a _horse.”_ Ryan continued over Asmo’s noise of disgust. “Just stay away from Mari and stop trying to make deals with her, got it?”

“Obviously,” Asmo sighed, disappointed, as he stood up. “I wouldn’t have been trying so hard if I knew she was in love, I’ve been wasting my time.”

Ryan stood up and, in tense moment of camoderie, they walk out the door together, Ryan’s back towards the town and Asmo’s to the open road. 

“I’ll be going now to find a new town, there’s no use of me being here. Say goodbye to Shane for me and tell him that the pig is looking for him, will you?” Without waiting for an answer, Asmo spun on his heel and walked away—whistling an unfamiliar tune.

Before Ryan could figure out where Shane went, a young boy ran up to him—panting. 

“Sir, sir! Sheriff Scott wants you immediately! There’s a criminal that’s claiming to be with you!” Ryan groaned at those words, already knowing who the _“criminal”_ was. 

“Damn it Shane, can’t you stay out of trouble for 5 goddamn minutes?”

* * *

“Freeze!” Shane stilled instinctively, setting down the pen he was twirling absentmindedly and raising his hands slowly—a grin forming on his face. 

“Marielle Scott! It’s a pleasure to meet you!” Shane chirps happily, ignoring the definitive sound of Marielle taking off the safety of the gun. “Our good friend Ryan Bergara is really fond of you, but I assure you that we’re a packaged deal! There’s nothing to be worried about!”

“Ryan makes a lot of enemies, you could be lying.” She didn’t lower her gun, and Shane could see how Ryan was whipped for her. 

“That’s certainly true, did you know he was on the bounty board?” Marielle frowned harder, and Shane raised his hands sheepishly. “Maybe that wasn’t what I should’ve started with.”

“Yeah, why don’t we start with your name instead?”

“Ah,” Shane thought for a minute before brightening, “Ryan’s here in town! I rode in with him, we can go grab him if you want, I left him at the tavern.”

 _“We_ can stay _here,”_ Marielle stressed, and turned towards a boy, “can you go find Ryan around the tavern?”

“Yes ma’am!” The boy stumbled to his feet and raced out the door, with Shane watching curiously after him. 

“I hadn’t realized you had a servant.”

“He’s not a servant, he wants to help willingly.” Marielle responded, quick, and Shane squinted at her for a moment before startling up again. 

“You’re Mari!” Shane laughed at the coincidence, while Marielle looked like he had gone crazy. “Sara knows you!” 

“You know Sara?” 

“Yeah!” Shane bounced on his feet slightly, a genuine smile on his face. “I didn’t recognize you at first, Sara drew you in abstract so I didn’t realize the connection at first. I’ve heard so much about you, Sara really respects you.”

“Are-Are you Madej?” Mari asks, bewildered, and when Shane nods his head she blinks. “Sara said you were eccentric but I didn’t know she meant it seriously.”

“Madej, at your service.” Shane bowed low, as if to prove Sara’s remark on his eccentricity, and Marielle, despite herself, giggled. “We’re a couple of oddballs, Sara and I.”

“No kidding.” Marielle whistled, lowering her gun and putting the safety back on, and Shane pulled out the sheriff’s chair Marielle had found him sitting in when she first walked through the door for her.

“Here’s your throne back.” Shane commented easily, pulling up another metal chair from the waiting room and sitting besides her with a sparkle in his eye. 

“You know I’m still going to have to handcuff you until Ryan gets here, right?”

“Sure, not the first time I’ve been in them.”

“Kinky.”

“Marielle, _no-“_

And when Ryan finally came bursting through the doors, panting, he found them laughing over the idea of Ryan telling ghost stories after having sex. 

Even as the tips of Ryan’s ears turned red as he yelled at Shane, who had one of his hands cuffed to the leg of the desk that forced him into an awkward hunch, he couldn’t help but smile at the sight the two of them made.

* * *

“I saw Shane today.” 

“Oh? How’s our little hunter doing? He finished his quota early this year, which is unusual for him. He’s usually a slacker when it comes to that.”

“I found a companion with him, he might’ve finished early because of that. Shane seemed fond of it.”

“What’s its name?”

“Ryan Steven Bergara, he’s able to resist my charm.”

“How unfortunate, well, there’s six others that can test Shane and his companion. After all, we don’t want him getting any ideas.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments appreciated and make me motivated! Constructive criticism welcomed!

**Author's Note:**

> If you’re from YT, welcome! If your from AO3 please watch the speed paint because it’ll help visualize an early scene, and welcome! I hope you enjoyed, more will be coming soon! Comments and kudos are always appreciated and keep me motivated!


End file.
